Aloha!

John and I just got back from an amazing week in paradise! We spent the whole week in Oahu, Hawaii with our friends Chris, John and Kristen. It was SO much fun and very much needed.

We did a lot of the tourist-type stuff, like visiting the International Marketplace, Waikiki, Pearl Harbor, etc., but we also spent a lot of time hanging out in the North Shore area, driving all over the center of the island, and relaxing at our resort.

The resort we stayed at in Ko Olina was absolutely beautiful! It had a few restaurants on-site, tons of swimming pools and it's own private beach (thanks Chris!!). Besides that our room was beautiful and had a great view of the golf course, which John loved.

Anyway, I posted a ton of pictures up on Facebook, but I'll put some of my favorites up here as well.

In other news, John started his master's program this week in healthcare administration. He is loving it so far, and I'm really excited for him. It's hard to believe that when I met John, he wasn't even in school and now just a few years later he's working on a master's degree! I am just really so proud!

I start my new job at Utah Business Magazine on Monday. I'm really excited! It was so hard to leave the Transcript office yesterday for the last time...but I know this new adventure will be worth it!

Ok, enough with the updates...here are some pictures from our trip!

Eating breakfast at the airport before our flight.

First time down at the beach!



John, Chris and John out to dinner our first night at the resort.

John and I at the beach at sunset

Pineapples growing at the Dole Plantation

John and I at the plantation

Enjoying a tasty pineapple juice/Dole whip treat. So good!

I thought this was so cool..this picture epitomizes North Shore!

At Waimea Valley on our way to the falls

These flowers were everywhere! I think they're called
birds of paradise.

Waimea Falls! So beautiful. The depth is 30 feet, and there are freshwater fish, crabs and shrimp in the water.
It wasn't cold at all and was so much fun to swim to the falls!

John and I before heading into the swimming hole.

Kristen, John and Chris on the way to the falls. Love Chris' pose!

All of us after swimming. Posing on a bridge in front of the falls.

John and I at Turtle Bay.

The boys at Turtle Bay.

We went sailing out of Ko Olina Harbor to see dolphins and
go snorkeling. This is the view from the boat.

Dolphins!

The sail on our boat.

John and me on the boat.

All ready to go snorkeling!

John on the beach at our resort

John and Chris golfing. I snapped these pics
from the balcony of our room haha.

Waikiki Beach

Me and Chris at Waikiki

John and I at the International Marketplace

John and I at House Without a Key - a delicious restaurant in Waikiki!

The North Shore Soap Factory, which operates in an old sugar mill.

Standing outside the soap factory. Don't mind
my face..it was really bright outside!

And here's John at the soap factory. It smelled so good inside!

We had lunch at Cholo's in North Shore one day, and had
to take a pic of these nachos. They were HUGE!

Shark's Cove. Hard to see, but this is where we did some amazing snorkeling!
We even got to swim with some sea turtles. Definitely the highlight of the trip!

John and I got shave ice at Matsumoto's in North Shore. So good!

Pearl Harbor

John and Kristen looking at one of the ship's anchors at Pearl Harbor

John trying out one of the ship's guns

Chris, doing something really important inside of a submarine. :)

The USS Arizona Memorial. It was beautiful, but sad at the same time.

You can still see oil leaking out of the sunken USS Arizona.

All of the names of those who died aboard the USS Arizona.

Driving along the east side of the island. Beautiful!

The east side has a lot of mountains, so there were tons of tunnels to go through.

A view from another course John golfed at, Ko'Olau, which is also near the east side.

Beautiful sunset!

Another great view of the sunset. It was so beautiful there in the evenings!

We saw tons of these little crabs along the shores.
They moved fast, so I was lucky to get this guy on camera.

My handsome hubby and me!

Another beautiful sunset!

Watching the sunset from Longboards, one of
the restaurants we frequented while at Ko Olina.

Love palm trees!

We could see these views right from our resort!

Yes, I took a picture in a bathroom...but look! It has all of these
settings for the toilet. I was too shy to use any of them,
but who knew that there were so many options for wiping?!
This was at a hotel in Waikiki.

I got some nasty looking mosquito bites during
our hike to Waimea Falls. They itched so bad!

John at the beach at our resort. He looks so handsome!

The beach at our resort.

Another view of the beach at our resort.

Utah Business Mag

It's official! I am leaving the Transcript-Bulletin in just a few short weeks to become assistant editor for Utah Business Magazine.

I'm really going to miss my Transcript family and the people of Tooele County, but I am very excited for this new opportunity and adventure! When I first started working at the Transcript, I never thought I'd learn as much as I have in the last year and a half. I am so grateful for everything I've had the opportunity to do here...from scuba diving, to flying a plane, to meeting some of the most interesting people in the world. It's going to be tough to say goodbye, but I know it's going to be worth it to keep achieving the career goals I've set for myself.

I can't wait to see what the future holds for me in this new job. I'm sure it's going to be challenging, fun and rewarding at the same time. If you want to check out the Utah Business website, it's www.utahbusiness.com.

Kara's Wedding Weekend

Last weekend, my Aunt Kara and Uncle Sheldon finally tied the knot! We got to spend the whole weekend in St. George having fun with family and celebrating their marriage. John and I spent one afternoon hiking at Red Cliffs, which was a lot of fun because there were tons of super deep pools of water to play in, and some cool old trees and dinosaur tracks to check out.

 

Cutting the cake!

 

Getting ready to exchange rings and say "I do."

Red Cliffs!

The first pool of water. People cliff jump into this one because it's so deep.

John standing in the pool just before it drops off.

Standing inside an old dead tree trunk!



John's Graduation!

John graduated with his bachelor's degree in finance on May 4. I couldn't be more proud! He is now starting on his master's program in healthcare administration, and will be graduating in two years. I know it's been a lot of hard work and will be a lot of hard work, but there's no doubt in my mind that John will achieve whatever he puts his mind to! Here are some pics from graduation day!

John with part of our "Sri Lankan family," Iranga and Waruni.

John with his brother, Jeff.

John and his parents.

John and my grandparents.

Me with the handsome graduate!

Can you tell he was excited?

Part of the spread for the after party.

John's diploma!

A Quarter of a Century

I turned 25 last week, which means I am now officially a quarter of a century old. It is so weird to think that. Anyway, John and I had a really good day together. He took the day off work and we had donuts for breakfast, sat outside on our patio, went to Ruth's Diner for lunch, then to the zoo and then to Oishi in Park City for dinner. Then we came home and watched the Hunger Games. And of course my birthday isn't complete without a little shopping, so we also hit up City Creek during my birthday weekend. It was so much fun! I am so lucky to have such a sweet husband who goes above and beyond to make me feel special on my birthday....and every other day of the year too! :) Here are some pics from our afternoon at the zoo!

Easter 2013

John and I had a fun Easter this year. We got to hang out with family and enjoy a delicious buffet at Little America, dye Easter eggs together, and get Easter baskets from the Easter bunny, of course. Here are a few pics from our Easter this year.